Following their heartbreaking loss to the Golden State Warriors the Magic had two options; Come out and play their tails off or look deflated and roll over. Unfortunately to the dismay of Magic fans they chose to roll over tonight. From the tip the Magic looked lost offensively as they once again chose to as stand and watch guys dribble offensively. While seemingly impossible the Magic played worse on the other end of the floor allowing 20 points to the Clippers in less 6 minutes. The Magic made a comeback while most of the Clippers starters sat until Kyle O’Quinn was questionably ejected for fouling Blake Griffin. After the ejection it was all Clippers went on a 20-9 run to end the quarter and the Magic never made it back within striking distance. The Clippers were lead by JJ Redick who ended up with 20 points on seven of eleven shooting including four threes and Blake Griffin who scored 21 points on nine of sixteen shooting and Chris Paul who registered a double double with 19 points and 10 assists. Tobias Harris lead the way for the Magic with 16.
The most frustrating part of watching this team is that their main problems don’t seem to be improving. Let’s start with ball movement, since their 33 assist eruption against the Pistons after which every Magic player admitted they needed to pass the ball like that to be successful the Magic have not tallied over 21 assists in a single game. The Magic have struggled offensively and it’s pretty clear that since Victor Oladipo came back there has not been enough ball to go around in the starting unit.
The other elephant in the room during this streak has been Orlando’s vulnerability in letting their lack of touches offensively completely dictate the other facets of their game. Most noticeably rebounding. The Magic have been getting slammed on the boards and while part of that can be blamed on Jacque Vaughn using micro ball lineups the lack of effort on the glass has been noticeable.
There are no sure solutions to fix these problems but a lineup change should seemingly be on the horizon because whatever Jacque Vaughn is throwing out there sure isn’t sticking.
Game Notes:
- Maurice Harkless finally got to play. As much as people have been clamoring for him to play (Myself included) he certainly didn’t play well enough to earn his way into the rotations.
- There are two players on this team that give it their all every time out. Elfrid Payton and Dewayne Dedmon.
- Chris Paul is amazing. He can seemingly do whatever he wants offensively whenever he wants.
- Those mid range jumpers that Blake Griffin missed in the first meeting between these teams were a fluke. He made them tonight.
- Deandre Jordan absolutely dominated the paint tonight on defense.
Rookie Report:
Elfrid Payton: Payton was once again a bright spot in another awful game. Outside of his free throws (2-9 including two consecutive air balls) Payton played well. Defensively he competed but was simply overmatched by the likes of CP3 and JJ Redick. Offensively even with Deandre Jordan terrorizing guys in the paint Payton didn’t back off. He shot only 3-6 but his aggressiveness paid off to the tune of nine free throw attempts; now he just has to convert those. Payton was the only guy creating any offense for his teammates. I’m not sure how much longer the Magic can afford to keep him out of their starting lineup.